


jeno and the christmas elf

by jenrenfics



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Elves, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Holidays, Jeno and Jaemin are exes, Jeno and renjun are cute, Jeno hates Christmas, Lee Jeno & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Light Angst, M/M, Mark is a keen observant, Renjun is a ball of sunshine, Wish Fulfillment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21541429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenrenfics/pseuds/jenrenfics
Summary: when jeno wishes to be happy on christmas day, he doesn't expect that an elf who's hanging for dear life on his window sill will be the answer.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 8
Kudos: 141





	jeno and the christmas elf

**Author's Note:**

> christmas fic coming thru!! 
> 
> this is word vomit that i worked for over 13 hours so expect errors and mistakes here and there but i hope u guys like it ♡

Jeno hates Christmas.

It’s been three years since he proposed to his boyfriend in front of hundreds of thousands of people at Central Square on Christmas Eve. Jeno had his best friend Mark play the guitar for him while Jeno sings _Eighteen_ as he walks slowly towards his boyfriend of five years. He knelt down as the crowd gathered around them, anticipating the expected. Jeno pulled out a small maroon box and opened the lid, a diamond ring glinting under the lights that surrounded the area. 

“Na Jaemin, will you marry me?”

Everyone was cheering and whistling, telling his boyfriend to say ’Yes!’ while Jeno waited patiently for an answer. Jaemin had a smile on his face that shone brighter than all the Christmas lights combined. It was a picture-perfect moment.

“I—I’m sorry…”

It only took two words for Jeno’s world to crumble down. After those two, Jeno couldn’t hear anything; everything became muted.

He made headlines in local newspapers, magazines, and online news portals for the next few days as the ’GUY WHO GOT REJECTED ON CHRISTMAS EVE’ or ’SANTA’S NUMBER ONE ON THE NAUGHTY LIST’. It was a _nightmare._ The buzz about him died down almost instantly—thank heavens—but then, his ex decided to post a photo of him and his new boyfriend a month later, and while it didn’t become a huge thing, Jeno still got bombarded with tweets and DMs asking him what he thought of it.

Ever since then, he never got out of his apartment to celebrate Christmas.

The first of December marks the day Jeno becomes grumpy, and the rest of the days leading up to Christmas. He’s easily irritable and he looks more and gaunter as each day passes. 

Despite this, his friends try to get him out of his cocoon of despair, and each attempt leads to nothing but Jeno crying and lashing out at them for not understanding his situation which is true. His friends think he’s just being a big dramatic boohoo because, after all, it’s been years! But Jeno knows he should go out for a bit but he _couldn’t_. The trauma of his past relationship is still imprinted on his heart to this day. It makes him sick to the stomach.

“Dude, you wanna hang out with us this weekend? We’re going to Donghyuck’s place, said it’s going to be just a fun and chill party,” Mark says, stretching his arms up after hours of talking to clients on the phone. “I know you’re going to say no but please, for the love of god, say yes.”

It’s the seventh on Saturday. He has absolutely no plans to do anything that day but mope around and watch Hallmark holiday movies (because they suck just like his life) while eating ice cream, pizza, fries, and fried chicken.

“I’m not that close with Donghyuck so I have a valid reason to say no,” Jeno replies, placing his headset on the monitor and locking his PC. “And, besides, I know the reason you’re going there is because you wanna get inside his pants.”

Mark smacks his arm and gestures him to shush. “He might hear you, you fuckwit!”

Jeno rubs the spot Mark hit and raises his fist but decides not to retaliate. “I wasn’t wrong, though.” He stands up from his seat. “I’m gonna go grab a snack outside. You want something?” 

“Nah. I’m cool.”

“Okay. Be back in a few.”

On the way to the convenience store, he encounters a man in a Santa Claus outfit who’s giving out cards to people passing by. He scoffs at the incredulity of it all, rolls his eyes, and heads to the store to buy snacks.

There are three things that absolutely suck during Christmas season aside from Hallmark movies: the Christmas music, the decors, and the fake Santa Clauses scattered everywhere. You look to the right? There’s a Santa! Across the street? There’s a Santa giving out toys to kids! On the billboard? There’s Santa singing _All I Want for Christmas is You!_ At the mall? You can buy your own Santa Claus sculpture!

If anything, Jeno has Christmophobia. It’s not a real term but he’s coining it. There’s a ring to it. Maybe he should send that to the publisher of Webster’s dictionary.

Even at their office, there’s a bunch of Santa cardboard cutouts at every door, with a speech bubble that tells the employees to enjoy their time with the company because they get a lot of perks that aren’t offered by other companies which is, quite frankly, an outright lie.

And, if Jeno were to be honest, the only song that he can tolerate is _Last Christmas._

  
  
  


“Look at that Santa! I wanna take a picture with him!” Mark says on their way home. After eight hours, it’s finally time to get some rest but apparently, Mark still has the energy of a kid. Begrudgingly, Jeno follows behind.

The Santa gives Mark a card. “Hello there! Nice meeting you. What’s your name?”

“Mark Lee!”

“Okay, Mark. So you see these cards I’m holding right now? They could grant a wish. So write anything down on that paper and wait for the magic to happen. Not now! But soon!”

Jeno can’t help rolling his eyes, and when the Santa offers him a card as well, he almost refuses it but Mark grabs it from the fake Santa’s hand and puts it inside Jeno’s pocket.

“What the fuck, Mark?”

“Relax. This is just for fun. There’s no harm in trying, right?” 

He gets home and almost tosses the card in the trash bin but contemplates for a moment. The card is nothing special. Just the plain, same old card that people staple in their gifts with their names written on it along with a message for the person they’re giving the gift to. The only difference is the smell. It actually smells like cupcakes which is weird.

Since Mark is right that this is just for fun and there’s no harm in trying, he reaches for his pen in his back pocket and writes down his wish.

I WANNA BE HAPPY THIS CHRISTMAS

  
  
  


Jeno wakes up to the sound of knocking on his window. It takes him a few seconds to realise that there’s someone outside.

“Hello! Anybody! Somebody! I need a hand because I’m hanging for my dear life here! Oh Claus, I’m about to die here.”

What the hell? Jeno’s senses are on high alert as he approaches his window. When he opens it very cautiously, he sees nothing but two hands clutched tight on the window sill.

Oh…

_Wait a sec!_

“Mister, I would really appreciate it if you could help me out in my demise because I’ve been hanging for at least ten minutes in this sill of yours and as much as I love the sky-high view of the city down there, I would rather have my foot somewhere solid and not dangling in the air.”

“Fuck, sorry!” Jeno grabs the boy’s wrists—both of which perfectly fits in his hands, Jeno notices—and helps him up, using what remains of his energy to pull the boy inside his room.

Jeno topples over and lands on his butt, before the boy falls on top of him, giving him no time to recover. Despite the impact, the boy’s body is seriously feather-light that Jeno wonders if he’s a ghost or something.

The first thing he sees clearly is a green hat on his head. _Interesting._ The second thing he sees are pointy ears. _Veeeery interesting._ The last thing he notices is the outfit but before he can comment, the boy lifts his face with a coy grin. _Very veeeeery interesting._

“Uh, hi?” the boy says.

“Hi.”

They stare at each other’s eyes for a moment and Jeno wonders what the boy with sparkly eyes and beautiful silver hair is thinking about right now. The boy then visibly snaps and rushes to dust himself off, standing up abruptly with his head bowed down. Jeno follows and stands there, awkwardly still.

They spend another ten seconds in painstaking silence before Jeno decides it’s best that he break the ice. “Nice costume…?” Jeno says, and he wants to slap himself for sounding like a total idiot. But, really, it _is_ a nice costume. Unlike the usual, the boy is wearing a red suit and tie and short trousers with matching long black socks and ankle-high leather boots. 

“Oh, really? Thank you! I made this. This is an updated fit for this year. You know, Santa Claus is really working hard to upgrade our wardrobe because, honestly, we’re so tired of the usual striped socks, plain green top and pants with a belt—we need something more exciting!”

_What is he talking about?_ Jeno thinks this guy is weirdly too in character for someone who’s just going to a costume party of some sort. “I have a curious question. How’d you get there in your position earlier? Did you fall from the upper floor or something?”

“Oh. That. Well, you see here, I was on a sleigh with nine other people and one of our reindeer sneezed! You know who it is. You guys even have a song for him! I think it goes like _Rudolph the red nose reindeer, have a very shiny noooose…_ and because he sneezed, we experienced sleigh turbulence and I lost balance so I fell. Luckily, I defied physics and somehow grabbed your window sill, which is why you found me earlier in that position!”

Jeno feels like all his brain cells exploded and his soul was vacuumed out of his body after the long, crazy ass exposition provided by this… guy who thinks he’s an actual elf. 

What if he’s a serial killer whose killing spree always happens on Christmas season? Well, that can’t be right. This city has the lowest crime rate and there was never an incident like this before.

What if he’s a new serial killer? Okay, that’s too much of a reach and it doesn’t seem like this boy is psychotic.

But he really does seem and sound like he got some loose screws in his head.

“By the way, my name’s Renjun. It’s my third year being Santa’s elf! Isn’t that amazing?”

Jeno just nods. “Uh-huh… yeah. Sure.” This Renjun guy is cute but too bad he’s a wee bit creepy for his liking.

Suddenly, the sound of ringing fills the room. Renjun fishes for something in his pocket—that something turning out to be a phone—and he excuses himself to pick the call up. Jeno takes this as an opportunity to think.

What is actually happening here is: this Renjun guy thinks he’s an elf of Santa Claus who only exists in kid’s tales, something happened which caused him to fall, probably drugs (he thought of alcohol but Renjun doesn’t reek of booze), and now he’s talking to his boss so he can sack Jeno’s body, steal his money, and throw his corpse in the river.

Sounds about right. But also batshit crazy.

“Hey, sorry about that. Santa just called me and asked if I was okay. I said I’m fine, don’t worry about me. He asked where I am, I said I’m here at Jeno’s house—”

“How did you know my name? Oh my fucking God, you’re a serial killer, aren’t you!?” Jeno takes a step back to distance himself from his potential murderer.

“What? No, silly! You have like that big banner with your name on it hanging on your wall.”

Jeno looks at where Renjun is pointing and he sees the banner Mark made for him on his twenty-first birthday. He still keeps it and plastered it on his apartment wall as a way of remembering that Mark will always be his best friend no matter what.

“Oh. Haha. Sorry.”

“It’s okay! But, back to what I was saying, he said I actually came to the right place and that sleigh turbulence was meant to happen. I don’t know what he meant by that. Also, he said you wished to be happy this Christmas and maybe you already got it?”

“What? I didn’t w—” Jeno trails off and remembers the card the fake Santa gave him and Mark. He makes a sudden connection. “Oh my God, you’re actually a serial killer! That fake Santa Claus is your boss and that’s why you’re here! But guess what, I have a fucking taser in my bag all the time.” Jeno pulls out the taser gun from his backpack, making Renjun step backwards.

“I don’t understand what’s happening…”

“But I do! Now get out of my fucking apartment or I’ll call security! Or maybe you just want me to electrify you first before I call security?”

“No, you don’t understand, I am—”

“A serial killer! Get out of my apartment, now!”

Renjun hastily opens the door and slams the door shut once he’s out. Jeno rushes to lock himself in, making sure that it won’t budge no matter what happens.

He flops back to his bed, tired and cranky. So much has happened tonight that he’d rather be absent from work tomorrow and just sleep all day.

“Fuck Christmas season.”

  
  
  


The next morning, while he’s preparing for work, Jeno wonders where Renjun after he kicked him out of his apartment. Somehow, he feels guilty because Renjun definitely seems like an okay guy who just happens to be too absorbed in his elf character. Accusing him of being a serial killer is seriously a reach.

Jeno opens the door and trips gracefully on something big. He mutters a curse under his breath, pissed off at the world for always bringing him bad luck whenever it’s Christmas season. When he checks what caused him to fall, he gasps. Renjun is there, sleeping peacefully on his doorstep.

“What the fuck?”

An elderly couple passes by and looks at Jeno with furrowed eyebrows, as if they’re disgusted that Jeno is letting a person sleep outside of his room when in fact, it’s not the case. He does what any rational person would do: shake Renjun’s body until he wakes up.

“Renjun… hey, elf Renjun!”

“Um?” Renjun shifts to the other side and sleeps once again.

_This kid…_ Jeno lets out a sigh and makes another attempt at shaking Renjun’s small figure but it doesn’t work. That leaves him no choice but put his arms around Renjun’s body and carry him inside his apartment.

And even after he tosses him on the bed, Renjun is still sound asleep.

“This motherfucker sleeps like he hasn’t slept in ages,” mumbles Jeno. 

He doesn’t know what to do at this point, but he also can’t let Renjun sleep outside. Heaving another sigh, Jeno grabs the blanket on the floor and puts it over Renjun. The boy makes a giggling sound and snuggles the covers.

_Cute. Even though he’s a strange person._

Jeno checks his watch. He’s going to be late.

  
  
  


Panting, Jeno goes to the nearest wall to take deep breaths. He’s been running like a madman for the past twenty minutes because he was about to be late. If he didn’t run, he would be ten minutes late and he didn’t want to sit down and be coached by the workforce department for an hour. He was late once and they gave him tips on how to wake up early and sleep early; those tips were from freaking wikiHow.

Finally regaining composure, he looks for his station and spots Mark already taking in calls. Mark sees him and waves in greeting.

“So, you got here on time,” Mark says, clicking the mute button before typing something on the keyboard. “But you’re always earlier than that. Did something happen?”

“Nothing. Just… you know, I got really tired,” says Jeno, booting up his computer and waiting for the screen to load up. He plugs his headset plug in the jack and wears it over his head.

“Okay, well. Rest a lot later when you get home. Tomorrow’s the weekend so you can sleep for hours if you want to.”

Jeno’s mind drifts somewhere else while he’s working. He can’t help thinking about Renjun if he’s already up and if he is, what’s he going to do. He should’ve left a note or something to inform him that he has work to do and he shouldn’t mess with any of his stuff.

“Hello? Are you still there? I said I need a new modem! You guys are getting on my nerves honestly. This is the second time…”

Jeno lets the sound drone out as he arranges an appointment for a technician to deliver a new modem and fix whatever issues his current client is having on their internet.

  
  
  


When he gets home at six in the evening, he expected that his room would look like a hurricane stopped over to wreak havoc in his room, but to his utter surprise, everything’s in its place. Everything’s untouched. Not a single hint of Renjun stealing or moving his things around. Also, something smells delicious…

“Oh, Jeno! Welcome home. I’m cooking beef stew for dinner. Is that okay?” Renjun wipes his hands on his apron and approaches Jeno. “I don’t know what to cook since the only thing in your fridge is beef and a few vegetables. Everything else I three out because they’re all expired. Have you not been buying groceries?”

Jeno is dumbfounded and is shocked at himself when he’s able to respond with a simple, “No.”

“That explains why.” Renjun unties the knot of the apron he’s wearing—Jeno’s apron that he got as a gift from his cousins a few years back—folds it four times before placing it on the rack near the kitchen. “We should go to the grocery tomorrow and buy food.”

“Okay so, does that mean you’ll be sleeping here?”

Renjun nods. “Yep. I got nowhere to go. Santa said he’ll fetch me after Christmas day. If it’s too much of a bother to you, I’ll just sleep on the floor. It actually feels nice, anyway.”

“No! It’s okay. We can share the bed.” Jeno scratched the back of his head. “It doesn’t… it doesn’t bother me.”

“Are you still thinking that I’m a serial killer? I mean, if I am, I wouldn’t have wasted time and just murdered you as soon as I got here, right?”

Jeno’s honestly way past that. What he’s genuinely curious now is why Renjun keeps on playing this elf character. “I’m thinking as to why you’re too deep into your character, actually. Like, why do you keep mentioning Santa and believing that you’re an elf?”

“Because… I am an elf? And Santa Claus is real?”

Jeno rakes his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Look, he’s not real! Elves ain’t real as well. Christmas is not the best holiday. It’s not even a holiday for me! It’s my absolute worst nightmare because every time Christmas arrives, I find myself in a shitload of shitty situations and it fucking sucks!”

He reaches out for Renjun’s left ear and pulls it to try and remove the prosthetic he’s wearing, only to find it stuck. Renjun is slapping his hand away but Jeno won’t budge that easy.

“It hurts! Get your hand away from me!” Renjun shoves him away and trudges outside the still open door. 

“Wait, Renjun!” He sees the elderly couple for the second time today judging him again with their stank eyes as Renjun disappears from his line of vision. He closes the door behind him and locks it with his key. “Mind your own business, please,” he tells them, before bouncing off to follow Renjun

Renjun is quick because he’s nowhere to be found. The people downstairs said they haven’t seen anyone wearing an elf costume which means Jeno has to run around in circles to look for Renjun.

_Why the fuck did I even think it’s a good idea to pull Renjun’s ear? That was stupid!_

Jeno keeps asking people if they saw a short guy who looks like an elf wearing a red suit and trousers but no one claims they saw someone like that. He feels like his head is being ripped apart because of the guilt that’s gnawing him. This isn’t as stupid as buying a ring for someone who doesn’t love you anymore, but why does this feel so much worse? Is it because of the way Renjun’s face looks so pained?

He almost gives up looking for Renjun while asking the man selling hotdogs on the street. But then, a glimmer of hope sparks within him when the vendor says, “I think I saw him! He’s crying, that poor little soul. I tried offering him hotdog but he ignored me.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“He went there,” the vendor says, pointing right. “I think you’ll still catch up on him. Good luck with finding him!”

Jeno thanks the vendor before running off again in hopes of finding Renjun. He must apologise before the night ends, otherwise, he won’t be able to sleep and will be much grumpier for the rest of the week.

The street is slightly far away from the bustling highway. It’s eerily quiet that Jeno audibly hears a commotion from a distance. He makes out voices of several men, mocking and degrading someone. It’s in an alleyway between a closed coffee shop and a closed fashion boutique. The alleyway is dim but the streetlight makes it easier for Jeno to see what’s happening from a few feet away.

“Santa won’t be able to save you now!”

“Where’s your money baby boy?”

“If you want to stay alive, you’ll give us your money!”

“I don’t have any money! I’m just an elf! We don’t need money!”

It’s Renjun’s voice. 

“This bastard is really stubborn. Can I borrow your gun?”

“Here.”

“So, will you give us your money? Or I’ll shoot you in the head?”

Renjun is silent for several beats. He looks like he’s about to cry. What he says next shakes Jeno to the core.

“Jeno! Please save me!”

“What? Jeno?”

“Who the fuck is that?”

Jeno grabs a pipe conveniently placed beside him and charges towards the three men, successfully hitting the man holding the gun in the stomach. The other two manages to duck his attack but Jeno swings the pipe, again and again, the object making contact with their legs and other parts of the body, rendering them helpless and wounded.

Sirens wail in the distance and Jeno lets himself rest for a bit, sitting next to Renjun. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thank you. For saving me.”*

“I’m sorry,” says Jeno. “I shouldn’t have done what I did to you earlier. It’s stupid. I’m stupid.”

“Forgiven,” Renjun says.

The police arrest the three men who are still writhing in pain on the ground. Apparently, someone caught sight of the situation way before Jeno arrived and was quick to alert the authorities. The cops thank Jeno for being a “brave young man” and making their jobs easier.

After the police left, the street becomes tranquil again.

“Let’s go home then, shall we?” asks Jeno.

Renjun nods. “Yeah. We shall.”

  
  
  


That night, they sleep beside each other, backs facing one another. Jeno’s heart is racing just by how close his proximity is from Renjun. It doesn’t help that Renjun smells like vanilla and chocolate as if he doesn’t even need to shower. He smells like a treat, anyway. Jeno turns his head to see what Renjun is doing, and finds the boy sound asleep.

“Good night,” Jeno says, even though he knows Renjun won’t hear it.

  
  
  


“Good morning!” is the first thing Jeno hears as soon as he wakes up.

Renjun is in full view when Jeno opens his eyes, his (beautiful) face brighter than the sunlight coming through the window behind him. It’s a pleasant sight but Jeno won’t tell Renjun that.

“Why are you up so early?” Jeno croaks, voice hoarse and husky.

“It’s nine in the morning, Jeno. And remember what we talked about last night? Groceries!”

“Oh. Right.” Jeno tosses the blanket to the side, rubbing his eyes as he slowly makes his way to the shower.

After he’s done taking a bath, Renjun peeks from behind the door of his closet and immediately looks away. Jeno is confused as to why Renjun reacted that way.

“Are you okay, Renjun?”

“Y-Yeah. Just, looking for something to wear but you’re bigger than me.”

Jeno moves near the closet and helps Renjun look for any shirt to wear. It’s impossible to find something that fits Renjun perfectly, but it’s better than having him wear that elf costume he’s been wearing for the past two days. He picks a plain grey sweatshirt and a pair of white shorts.

“Wear this on after—Renjun? Are you okay?”

Renjun’s face is red as a tomato and he’s profusely sweating. “P-Please wear a shirt already,” he says in a shaky voice.

_Ah, I see._ Jeno stifles a laugh by chewing the inside of his cheek, thinking how cute it is that Renjun is easily flustered by him being half-naked with only a towel wrapped around his waist. 

Renjun jumps up as soon as Jeno teasingly adjusts the tightness of the towel and runs inside the shower, closing it with much force than needed.

He settles with a black shirt and grey sweatshorts. Is he matching his outfit with Renjun? Maybe.

When Renjun comes out of the shower, he’s already fully dressed in Jeno’s clothes. The sweatshirt is a size bigger, and the shorts which are supposed to be snug fit is slightly loose around Renjun’s thighs. 

Basically, Renjun is fucking cute in Jeno’s clothes.

There’s a problem, though. Renjun’s elf ears are sticking out. Jeno opens one of the drawers and grabs a beanie before handing it to Renjun. “Wear this so you can hide your ears.” He stretches the fabric a bit and pulls it down Renjun’s head, making sure that a few of his bangs stick out a bit.

_He looks so fucking cute, I can’t._

“Are you ready to go out?” Jeno asks.

“Yeah! It’s time to go out and breathe some fresh air.”

  
  
  


“What food do you like? Do you have a specific preference? Or maybe food that we should stay away from because you get allergies from them? Do you like vegetables or not? Do you like easy to make food so you won’t be able to burn your apartment down?”

Jeno lets his brain absorb all the questions Renjun just threw at him in one single intake of breath before answering. “I like all kinds of food. I don’t eat much spicy food, though.”

“I was thinking of cooking potato curry spring rolls but…” Renjun heaves a sigh and puts the packet of curry powder back to the shelf. “I’m now thinking of doing Chicken à la King.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s diced chicken in cream sauce mixed with vegetables and is very versatile. You can eat it with rice, noodles, or even bread!”

They spend the rest of the hour just putting random stuff inside the cart. Well, at least for Jeno it’s random but Renjun knows a lot. He is telling Jeno all these recipes like he’s a walking recipe book.

“Do they teach you these things at the North Pole?” Jeno asks, half-jokingly.

“No. I watch YouTube videos and, yes, we do have an internet service provided up there. I watch a lot of food videos. Cat videos, too! What about you?”

Jeno thinks it’s crazy how the North Pole has internet service but anything is possible now at this point. “Well, I am a huge fan of ASMR.”

Renjun shudders at the mention of the last word. “ASMR is gross! You really find that therapeutic? I’d rather watch ice cream roll making videos.”

They reach the baggage counter and Jeno pays for everything. Renjun tells him he’ll find a way to pay him back.

“Have a Merry Christmas!” the cashier says.

Jeno doesn’t respond back but Renjun greets her with an enthusiastic “Happy holidays to you, too, Ma’am!”

  
  
  


“By the way, what do you do for work, anyway?” asks Renjun as soon as they back in Jeno’s apartment with four brown paper bags. “Because for me, I handle external communications as well as shipping gifts to the kids included on the nice list.”

“It’s something similar to your line of work. I work as a call centre agent. What we do is handle clients’ problems and concerns over the services we offer. It sounds easy and fun but lemme tell you, we get aggressive customers every single day.” Jeno takes out all the items from the bag while Renjun puts them inside either the overhead cabinets or the fridge.

“Can I ask you something? It’s a personal question so…”

“Go ahead.”

“Why do you hate Christmas so much?”

Jeno takes out the last food item—a can of mushrooms—before answering. “I got dumped on Christmas eve. I asked this guy to marry me in front of thousands of people and he rejected me.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all in the past now. But still, it was a traumatising experience.”

Renjun looks at Jeno for a few beats before walking up to him and wrapping his arms around Jeno’s waist. Taken aback, Jeno has his hand rest awkwardly on Renjun’s shoulder. It takes him a while to muster up the courage to embrace Renjun back and when he does, his stomach is filled with butterflies. He is embarrassed, though, that Renjun might be hearing the quick galloping of his heart.

This is nice, Jeno thinks. It’s been a hot minute since he had a hug this cosy and warm. He realises he hasn’t even received a genuine hug in ages; bro hugs with Mark and his other colleagues are not counted.

When Renjun pulls back, Jeno resists the urge to whine at the loss of Renjun’s warmth. 

“I know we’ve only known each other for a few days but… you are a good person. And you deserve to be loved just like everyone else in this world. If only Santa can gift you something intangible like love, he would do it.” Renjun snaps his fingers. “Speaking of which, you wished for happiness, right? Maybe you’ll get one on Christmas day.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that the fake Santa outside our company building isn’t actually fake but the real Santa?”

Renjun shrugs. “I have no idea. He doesn’t really tell us elves where he’s going because he prefers to work alone, or with Mrs. Claus but she’s too busy facilitating us during production.”

Jeno just can’t wrap his head around the fact that elves are real, Santa Claus is real, Rudolph and his gang of reindeers are real… “So the sleigh incident actually happened?”

“Yes, it certainly did! And thank heavens I was able to grab onto your window sill, otherwise, I would’ve been dead. But, Santa told me that it was _meant to happen_ and until now I still cannot comprehend what he meant by that.”

Jeno raises his hands when Renjun looks at him. “Don’t look at me. I don’t even know, too.”

“Well, whatever my purpose for being here is, I hope I’m doing it efficiently and effectively.” Renjun gets the apron from the frack and ties a knot on the back. “Let’s get to cooking, shall we?”

  
  
  


When Monday comes, Jeno doesn’t see Renjun when he wakes up but he left a written note on his bedside table which reads: I’LL BE OUT FIRST, JENO! DON’T WORRY, I’LL BE BACK ASAP. ALSO, I WORE YOUR BEANIE TO HIDE MY POINTY EARS. ENJOY YOUR BREAKFAST ♡

Heat crawls up to Jeno’s cheeks as he stares at the little heart Renjun drew at the end of his note. _Why does he have to be so fucking cute? It actually kinda hurts._

Contrary to last Friday’s fiasco, he’s not running late now and is able to arrive at work thirty minutes early. Mark isn’t there in his station yet. Jeno loads up his PC and plugs in his headset, ready for another day of talking to customers who have rocks for brains because they can’t do shit on their own.

Mark comes to his station a few minutes later with a cup of coffee in his hand. “TL said there’s a new addition to our team.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t you open the group chat? I mean, of course, you wouldn’t. You haven’t opened it in weeks. I have to always text you about announcements.” Mark boots up his PC as well. “Don’t know the new guy’s name, though.”

“Well, the more the merrier is what they say, right?”

Their TL arrives a bit later and tells them and the rest of the team that the new member is here. “He’s seriously the cutest. He just had his interview earlier and we believe that he doesn’t need any training. I’ll be guiding him for a week, though.” She turns her back on them. “Oh, there he is!”

Jeno almost faints on the spot when he sees the face of the newest addition to their team.

“Hi, I’m Renjun! Nice to meet you!” Renjun looks around and when his eyes land on Jeno, he jumps up and waves his hand at him. “Jeno, I’m working now!”

The team goes silent as they look back and forth from Jeno to Renjun and Jeno just wants to the earth to swallow his entire body to get out of this situation.

  
  
  


“How did you two know each other?” asks Mark during lunch break. “And why did I not know about this? Dude, I’m your best friend.”

Mark must be thinking a lot of things and Jeno isn’t ready to entertain every question his friend has on his mind yet.

“Actually, here’s a funny story!” Renjun pipes in. “Last week, I was on a sleigh but one of the reindeers sneezed so I fell—”

“From the sleigh ride! Yeah, he fell… from… the sleigh ride,” Jeno interjects, saving him and Renjun from further speculation because Mark is looking at Renjun like he’s a weird motherfucker and Jeno won’t let that happen. He pinches Renjun’s thigh and the boy winces but gets the message when Renjun taps Jeno’s hand twice. 

“And Jeno saved me from the fall because he was there!” Renjun finishes. “That’s how we knew each other.”

Jeno takes a bite of his chicken sandwich and wishes Mark won’t ask any more questions as if he’s doing police interrogation. He knows Mark is doing this because he’s afraid that someone will break his heart again. But, the thing is, nothing is going on between him and Renjun! If anything, Jeno is the only one harbouring feelings for the other. A true one-sided attraction.

“Do you like Jeno?”

Jeno almost spits his food out but thankfully, he takes a big gulp of Sprite to prevent him from choking on it. 

“I like Jeno! He’s a nice person and he takes care of me well.”

Jeno stops in the middle of wiping his mouth with a handkerchief after hearing the words that left Renjun’s lips. He looks at Mark who’s looking back at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“He’s such a great friend to me.”

_Oops. Friendzoned._

Jeno notices Mark biting his fingers to stop himself from laughing. Mark pulls out his phone and types something; a second later, Jeno’s phone chimes. He opens Mark’s message and is greeted by a meme where the caption says: THAT SHIT… HURTED! He types a FUCK YOU as a reply.

They spend the remaining thirty minutes of the break talking about random stuff, mostly Renjun asking Mark about tips on how to handle difficult customers and such, but Jeno doesn’t really listen and he thinks about how funny it is that he’s actually hurt at how Renjun sees him as a friend and nothing more.

_God, Jeno. You’re so stupid._

  
  
  


For the rest of the week, Jeno and Renjun go to work together, eat lunch together, go home together, eat dinner together, and sleep together. It has become a routine but Jeno isn’t accustomed to it just yet.

Renjun has been receiving good comments from the TL and the higher-ups. They said Renjun is generating a lot of income for the company and his surveys indeed show that customers love him. All his ten surveys are promoters. Not a single detractor in sight.

There have been instances where his co-workers would ask why Renjun always wears a beanie and Jeno’s stomach drops because he’s afraid they might see what he’s hiding underneath. But Renjun stays calm and cool in this situation, always telling them that his ears get numb easily when exposed to cold temperatures so he has to wear a beanie to cover them. He also adds he’s not comfortable wearing earmuffs.

Renjun is just a brilliant person.

He can cook, he has his way of talking that charms people, he has great looks that make up for his lack of height, and he adapts very well to any type of environment. Meanwhile, Jeno is nothing special. And maybe that’s why Jaemin dumped him. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been dating for years. Maybe that’s why Renjun sees him as nothing but a friend.

_Oh, wait. I have a talent: self-loathing._

  
  
  


“Jeno, let’s go watch a movie on Netflix!” Renjun says, bringing a bowl of nachos on the bed as he lays on his stomach beside Jeno. “I heard Vanessa Hudgens has this new Christmas movie where an English Knight time travels to modern-day America.”

“You know Vanessa Hudgens?”

Renjun flicks Jeno’s forehead. “I live in the North Pole, not under a rock, dummy. Of course, I do know her! We elves are big fans of _High School Musical_ actually. Sharpay is my bae.”

Jeno chuckles at Renjun’s remarks and opens up his laptop. “Holiday movies suck, to be honest. But to be honest, now that I live in my very own Holiday movie because you’re here, minus the romantic aspect, of course, I guess they’re not that bad.”

Renjun squints his eyes and moves his face close to the screen. “The Knight Before Christmas…” he reads. “Wow, that’s not a funny pun.”

“So, it’s not _punny_?”

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Jeno, that’s worse than the title!”

Jeno rolls over while letting out a hearty laugh. “I think it’s a pretty good joke!”

“No it’s not!” says Renjun, but he’s also laughing. He presses the spacebar and the movie begins to play.

  
  
  


“That was…” 

“Great?”

Renjun sits up and rubs the tip of his ear. “It’s cliché, but I like cliché. It gives balance to the ever-growing industry of films with original and never before seen storylines. It gives a comfortable feeling to me.”

Jeno closes his laptop and tucks it back inside its casing. “Do elves ever fall in love?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course, we do! How do you think elves are growing in number every year?” Renjun sighs. “I haven’t been in love myself, though. I’m always focused on making gifts. When it’s not Christmas season, all I do is rest, play, watch any series or movies, draw random stuff. I’m not much of a social person, you see, but I try my best when I need to be.”

“How about now?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to find love here?”

Silence envelops the air between the two of them as Jeno waits for Renjun, who is fiddling with his fingers, to respond. 

“I think I already did.”

Jeno’s stomach does a flip. “Who?”

“I can’t tell you! It’s a secret that can’t be shared,” says Renjun and gives Jeno a wink, before stepping out of the bed and making himself a bowl of milk and Frosties.

  
  
  


It’s been a while since he worked out at the gym with Mark. His body has felt significantly heavier these past few days from eating too much food thanks to Renjun who’s such a perfect cook that Jeno forgot to watch his calorie intake.

While working out on a shoulder press machine, Mark asks, “How are things going on with Renjun?”

Jeno scoffs. “Nothing is going on between us two. It’s purely one-sided. I didn’t even need to tell you I was crushing on him.”

“We’re best friends, Jeno. I would obviously know if you like someone. But Renjun… he’s a book that’s hard to read, to be completely honest. On the one hand, he seems so interested in you. On the other hand, it doesn’t look that way because he’s friendly with a lot of people.” Mark leaves the machine and drinks from his water tumbler. “Just remember what I always say to you. Guard your heart.”

  
  
  


On Friday, after leaving work, Renjun drags Jeno to the mall, insisting that they must buy Christmas decorations for Jeno’s apartment.

“But you know I hate Christmas! And it’s _my_ apartment,” Jeno said.

“If you really do hate Christmas then why haven’t you kicked me out yet. I’m an elf. I’m one symbol of Christmas.” Renjun clutched Jeno’s arm tight. “Besides, Christmas is, like, three days away! We have to hurry or Santa will get angry! Ooh, that rhymed!”

And that’s why they’re here at the department store, looking for an assortment of red and gold Christmas balls, a garland, a small Christmas tree, Christmas lights, a pair of Christmas stockings, and Christmas cards.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be paying for all of these,” Renjun says.

“As if I’d pay for any of that,” Jeno says.

They go home bringing a bag full of Christmas decorations that vary in colour, size, shape, and kind. It’s honestly too much for Jeno’s liking, but he doesn’t want to burst Renjun’s bubble because the boy clearly is loving this moment.

“Just help me out in putting all of these up. I’ll be out in a few days, anyway.”

Jeno furrows his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Oh. I-I’ll be out. I’m going out in a few days. I might go shopping.”

_He’s lying._

Despite this, Jeno doesn’t press on and helps Renjun take out all the items from the bag and sets them on top of the table. Renjun is inspecting each and every decor, placing them on any area within the apartment where they’ll fit the best.

In the end, the Christmas tree, adorned with Christmas balls and lights, sits next to the window. The garland is plastered above the banner with Jeno’s name on it, and below it hung the stockings, one for Renjun and one for Jeno.

“I miss decorating the headquarters with my fellow elves. We’re all excited when it comes to decorations.” Renjun pulls out his phone and takes a photo of the apartment. “I’ll send this to our group chat just so they know that I’m decorating someone else’s room.”

Jeno’s mind drifts back to what Renjun said earlier. “Hey, Renjun. What did you really mean about being out in a few days?”

Renjun doesn’t look at Jeno when he sits on the edge of the bed, putting his phone beside him. “It means I’ll go back to the North Pole on Christmas Day. Or maybe after Christmas Day.”

“But why?”

“I don’t belong here, Jeno. I’m an elf! I’m supposed to be wrapping gifts and helping out Mrs. Claus and my fellow elves but instead… I’m here.”

“So you don’t like it here, is what you’re saying?”

“No—”

“Then why are you working your ass off at the call centre when you’ll be leaving, anyway?”

“Because I want to get to know you! And I’m starting to like you! But I can’t, because…” Renjun takes a deep breath before continuing, “because I’m an elf and you’re a human. We can’t be together.”

Jeno’s heart hammers against his chest as soon as those words leave Renjun’s lips. He wants to say that he doesn’t care if Renjun has pointy ears, if he wraps gifts for a living, or if his boss is Santa fucking Claus. However, Jeno doesn’t trust his voice and can’t bring himself to say something so he settles on looking down at his feet and avoiding Renjun’s gaze.

The next thing he knows, the door slams shut and when he lifts his head up, Renjun is gone.

  
  
  


Christmas Eve arrives and Jeno is feeling shitty more than ever.

Renjun has been successfully avoiding Jeno at work and at home. He goes home early and sleeps early, leaving Jeno on his own. He still cooks Jeno breakfast, though, but it doesn’t taste the same when Renjun is mad at him.

Of course, Mark, the ever keen observant, notices Renjun’s behaviour and asks him during lunch break about their situation and if Jeno is responsible for all of this.

Jeno shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“You wouldn’t understand, Mark. It’s really complicated.”

“How complicated?”

Jeno wants to tell Mark it’s as complicated as a Netflix Holiday special because Jeno has fallen in love with Renjun who is actually one of Santa’s elves and Renjun has to go back to the North Pole on Christmas day or after it which sucks and the more reason Jeno despises Christmas.

“Okay. I get it. You won’t tell me because it’s really complicated.” Mark leans in closer and says, “Whatever it is that you two are facing, I hope you fix it.”

Jeno heaves a sigh. “I hope so, too.” _If Renjun doesn’t leave for North Pole tomorrow, that is._

Jeno has always dreaded the twenty-fifth of December.

This day has given him so much shit that Jeno has lost hope of finding happiness every Christmas. While the rest of the world is rejoicing, Jeno is moping around, grumpily walking along the pavement, hands tucked inside the pockets of his trenchcoat. 

He hasn’t seen Renjun earlier at work, and Jeno believes he’s already left. It hurts too much just thinking about it that he feels numb from the pain already.

“Hey, young man!” 

Jeno looks up and sees fake Santa—or the actual Santa, but who knows—gesturing at him to come forward. He obliges and stands in front of the huge man with long white beard and hair. “Hey, Santa.” Saying Santa out loud feels weird for Jeno that he inwardly cringes.

“Did your wish come true?”

Jeno shakes his head, a pained smile plastered on his face. “For two weeks, maybe. But…”

Santa gives him another card, but this time it doesn’t have any design on it, just a plain sky blue card. “Write your wish there. It doesn’t hurt to try again, right?”

Jeno gets the card from Santa’s hand and begins to contemplate. Does he really want to end this day in a bad note again? He’s tired of always spending Christmas alone and unhappy in his apartment. He’s sick of being stuck to the past. He has to move forward and give himself a chance to be happy every Christmas. It’s Christmas, for chrissakes. It’s supposed to be a happy day for everyone. 

He fishes out his pen from his back pocket and writes one word on the card.

RENJUN

  
  
  


Jeno comes home to his apartment. It feels empty and cold without Renjun. No one is there to tell him stories about the way things work in the North Pole. No one is there to hum Christmas tunes while cooking food for dinner. No one is there to tell Jeno that he shouldn’t hate Christmas that much or he’ll grow old fast. No one is there to smile at Jeno and make his heart skip a beat.

The decorations are still intact. Jeno thinks this is Renjun’s parting gift. After all, their relationship deteriorated immediately after they did decorations.

He should’ve asked for Renjun’s social media accounts or cell phone number. 

No. He should’ve apologised first, then ask Renjun’s social media accounts and cell phone number.

Jeno hears a distant scream which dies down almost instantaneously. He is puzzled as to what it was. Probably a bird or something.

Then, there’s a knock on his window.

“Hello, Jeno? You there? I’m quite stuck here on your window sill for the second time.”

_Renjun!?_ Jeno rushes towards the window and looks down to see Renjun hanging for his dear life just like how he did the first time they met. “Renjun!”

“Hey, Jeno!”

“Look, I’m really sorry for whatever I did. I promise not to be an asshole again. I’m slowly regaining my love for Christmas which is good news, right? Als,o I really fucking like you—no, I _love_ you, okay? And—”

“I really, like, love you, too, but please help me out first, will you? We can cry and be sappy once I’m inside your apartment!”

“Oh shit!” 

Jeno grabs Renjun’s tiny wrists and pulls him up with all his might. This time, they’re quicker and Renjun is inside his apartment in a matter of seconds. Jeno doesn’t fall on his butt and Renjun safely lands on the floor.

“How’d you even get there?” Jeno asks, hands on his waist.

Renjun dusts himself off. “Rudolph sneezed again and I lost balance so I fell from the sleigh and luckily, I fell straight on your window sill. I don’t know why this always happens when I could’ve just fallen on the rooftop but no!”

The first thing Jeno notices is that Renjun is wearing casual clothes that actually fit him. The second thing he sees are Renjun’s ears. They’re not pointy anymore.

“Did you… did you cut out your ear or something?”

Renjun touches his earlobe and chuckles gingerly. “No, I did not, silly. I became human. I’m not an elf anymore!”

Jeno has a hard time digesting this piece of information. “But how?”

“Santa told me that you wished for happiness and when I came, you became happy. I wished to fall in love and I did fall in love with you.” Renjun pulls out a card from his pocket and shows it to Jeno. Written on the card is Jeno’s name. “You wished for me. I wished for you.”

Tears start brimming on Jeno’s eyes and he doesn’t waste any time to wrap his arms around Renjun, and Renjun does the same, nuzzling his head on Jeno’s chest.

Jeno loves Christmas. He loves Renjun.

  
  
  


The next few months go by smoothly.

As expected, Mark is dating Donghyuck who is from the other team at the call centre. They’re going strong even though their respective team leaders don’t approve of their relationship because “it might cause a disjoint when you two break up” but if Jeno were to be honest, it seems like the two of them will stick together till the end.

Renjun isn’t working at the call centre anymore which was sad news for the team and the company because Renjun is one of the best workers they had. Right now, Renjun works as a kindergarten teacher.

“Want to have kids in the future?” Jeno asks.

Renjun plays with a strand of Jeno’s hair. “I want twins. One boy and one girl.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” whispers Jeno. “I’ve taken care of my younger cousins when they were babies. I’m ready.”

The apartment hasn’t changed a bit, save for the addition of new clothes for Renjun. There are two banners on the wall: one for Jeno and one for Renjun, both made by Mark because Mark is the best.

Jeno pulls Renjun onto his lap, and Renjun wraps his legs around Jeno’s waist. Jeno presses his lips against Renjun’s. Renjun’s lips are velvety soft and his breath smells like vanilla. They kiss until they’re both out of breath, then they kiss again. This time Jeno drops on the bed and Renjun is on top of him.

Renjun pulls back and pokes the tip of Jeno’s nose. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> ☆ kudos + comments are greatly appreciated and encouraged!!! [twitter](https://twitter.com/jenrenfics) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/injunstarr) ☆


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